IFLA Newsletter # 104 April 2013
LANDSCAPE EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA EDUCATORS CAPACITY BUILDING GLORIA APONTE GARCÍA
Countries involved in the program
Education is one of the key activities that support our profession’s development and the accomplishment of landscape architecture goals for the benefit of society. Landscape architecture education began formally more than a century ago, and although that beginning can be traced to the American continent, its development currently shows a disturbingly unbalanced comparison between North, Central and South America. Educators Capacity Building: EDucators in Landscape Architecture (EDAP for its Spanish initials; EDucadores en Arquitectura del Paisaje) - was proposed by the Americas region Education Committee in 2009 during the 46th IFLA World Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and finally became a reality in 2012-2013, through the IFLA-UPB (Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, from Medellín, Colombia) agreement. The general objective of this initiative was to promote the development of landscape architecture in Latin American countries through capacity building for educators at the university level in this area of knowledge. Lecturers from seven Latin-American countries, acting as students in this case, attended the call very enthusiastically and participated in the two-part program. It was clear that participants achieved the specific objectives that were foreseen in the proposal: 1
- To strength the interdisciplinary vision of the profession - To share teaching experiences - To create or renew links between programs - To begin networking and cooperation for research
Collaborative workshop. EDAP Part 1.
The launching of REDPAL (Latin American Landscape Educators Networking Group)
The program was designed as a certifiable post-degree diploma (according to the Colombian academic structure) that requires 120 hours of attendance. It began with a solid teaching group mostly from North America. The first part was carried out on October 8th, through the 17th, 2012, just before the IFLA Regional Conference held in Medellín. Three modules were developed.
Green Infrastructure. Nathaniel Cormier, from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Landscape Construction. Kim Sorvig, from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA
Design with vegetation. Darrel Morrison from the Universities of Georgia and Columbia, USA
The second part was carried out on March 18 through the 27th, 2013, taking part of the eastern holyday. Three modules were developed:
Landscape and teaching. Professional practice and association. Martha Fajardo. IFLA ex-president, from Bogotá, Colombia. Poetics and landscape. William Rouge UPB, Medellín, Colombia. Applied pedagogy. Jorge Ríos UPB, Medellín, Colombia.
Landscape Planning. Juan C. Vargas, Universities of Harvard and MIT, USA
Urban Landscape. Germán Cruz, Ball State University, Indiana, USA 2
One of the most interesting exercises drove the group to examine themselves regarding their professional and teaching performance, and to recognize key weaknesses. Additionally, attendees experimented with contrasting methods of teaching which was conducive of self-examination and served to inspired participants to enrich their habitual ways of teaching. To evaluate the course, various questions were addressed; the responses to these questions illustrate the value of the program. What surprised you positively? -The many different and dynamic ways to teach design. What were the three main issues? - The experience of being surrounded by fellow professionals/educators - The dynamic of the group - Connection with Latin American culture, embracing their similarities and differences Any additional comments? - I wanted to thank everyone for this beautiful experience that will be part of me forever! - Thank you to all for sharing this wonderful experience of knowledge, which has enabled us to strengthen ties. The great success of the course has made us consider preparing a second version for those lecturers that were unable to attend. Our interests will be focused on those Latin-American countries whose education is still under development, such us Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and all others that are interested in participating. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the two-part meeting, that shows evidence of the group’s enthusiasm and aspiration was the initiative created among participants to create a collaborative education network. During an additional session held on Saturday March 24th the REDPAL: Red de EDucadores en Paisaje para América Latina (Latin American Landscape Educators Network), was created. REDPAL gathers a group of educators united in the generation of knowledge on landscape and allows collaborative work to improve landscape education in Latin America.
The group in the outskirts of Medellín
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